A cabbie has been found guilty of molesting a severely disabled passenger after covering security cameras in his taxi, prompting relief from her parents.
"For the justice system here today, they recognised that people with disabilities do have a voice and they do have rights and that was given a tick today," the victim's father said.
He was speaking outside the Adelaide magistrates court on Friday, after Cheng Jiang Cao, 54, was found guilty of indecently assaulting the 24-year-old woman who is confined to a wheelchair.
Magistrate Simon Smart found the father of four children had touched the woman's breast in November 2012 after covering the cameras with small sticky notepaper.
The woman has cerebral palsy and cannot speak, but Cao was caught after one of the papers fell off and footage emerged of him putting his hand down her t-shirt.
The magistrate rejected Cao's explanation that he had covered the cameras as he had planned to hit the woman because she was spitting, but changed his mind realising she was disabled.
"I find this a most unlikely, indeed absurd explanation," he said.
He also found it implausible that Cao put his hand down the woman's shirt to clean up her spit.
Cao faces a sentencing hearing at Elizabeth magistrates court on February 28.
The woman's father later said if the assault could happen to their daughter, it could happen to a lot of other people.
While trust is one thing, reality is another, he added.
"It makes you feel guilty that you've let her down, that you've actually put her care and her safety and her life in the hands of strangers," he said.
His wife said it was a good day for justice for the vulnerable.
"It is such a victory for our daughter who doesn't have a voice and would never stand up for herself so in terms of justice for her, it is a fantastic day," she said.
Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent said the case was a rare victory and showed vulnerable people needed better protection.
"There are still many cases of this kind of abuse happening in our community and they don't even make it to a court," she said.
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